Marlies Hot & Cold: October 22nd-28th

Toronto played only once this week and they skated away with a 5-4 overtime win over the Hamilton Bulldogs- Image Courtesy of Dave Abel

TORONTO- It wasn’t a typical week for an AHL hockey club as the Toronto Marlies faced-off in only one game in seven days.

Toronto went to Hamilton on Friday night to face the Bulldogs for the third time in eight days and came away with a 5-4 overtime victory.

Defencemen Simon Gysbers scored the winning goal with only 55 seconds remaining in extra time and Ben Scrivens turned aside 35 shots for his second win of the season.

The Marlies are now 3-2-1 and will be on the road for their next seven contests, starting with back-to-back meetings against the Abbotsford Heat on Thursday Nov. 1st. and Friday Nov. 2nd.

Here are the Toronto Marlies hot and cold performers for the week of October 22nd-28th.

Who’s Hot

Simon Gysbers

Season Stats: 3 GP 1 G 1 A 2 PTS

In and out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, Gysbers returned to action after missing two games and scored the game-winning goal and added an assist against Hamilton. The Richmond Hill native, along with blue-line partner Dylan Yeo, were Toronto’s most effective D-pairing at times.

Keith Aucoin

Season Stats: 6 GP 0 G 6 A 6 PTS

Aucoin picked up three assists against the Bulldogs. The 33-year-old was held pointless in his first three games of the season and was minus-5, but he now has six points in his last three outings and is a plus-3 to go along with it.

Leo Komarov

Season Stats: 6 GP 1 G 2 A 3 PTS

It took Komarov some game experience to get adjusted to North American ice, but the Fin has picked up a point in three straight games, including an assist on Carter Ashton’s first goal of the season against Hamilton. Despite not liking the term “pest”, Komarov has been just that and has added some needed “sand paper” to Dallas Eakins’ lineup.

Who’s Cold

Nazem Kadri

Season Stats: 6 GP 0 G 3 A 3 PTS

Kadri has been creating scoring chances for his teammates and himself, however he hasn’t been able to finish and is still looking for his first goal of the season. The 21-year-old has been asked by his coach to simplify his game, but at times against Hamilton he played too simple and wasn’t generating enough in the offensive zone.

Greg Scott

Season Stats: 5 GP 0 G 2 A 2 PTS

Scott led all Marlies in shots-on-goal last season, and scored 21 goals doing it, but this year he has just four shots in five games and is in need of his first goal. Scott has seen much more time on Toronto’s shut-down line, which limits his chances of scoring, but average play on the penalty kill and limited offence turned him into a healthy scratch against the Bulldogs.

Korbinian Holzer

Season Stats: 5 GP 1 G 1 A 2 PTS

Holzer logs the most minutes of any Marlies’ defencemen, which is why it hurt the club for him to miss Friday’s game against Hamilton with the flu. He didn’t skate from Wednesday until Sunday, but joined his club on Monday for practice and expects to be in the lineup against Abbotsford.